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NBA Picks

Pacers Look to Continue Their Home ATS Advantage

Now that football season is finally over, the NBA can take its rightful place in the forefront of the sports conversations. There are a few games on tap Monday, but I have carefully curated two picks that should yield some dividends if acted on by bettors.

The Indiana Pacers are establishing one of the very underrated home-court advantages in the entire NBA by taking care of business at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers have won their last 6 games at home and have yielded a home ATS record of 16-13, which ranks in the Top 10 of home ATS records.

A part of the reason of the Pacers' success has to be the contributions made by the enigmatic Lance Stephenson, who comes off the bench and sparks the energy in the arena with his passionate play. Stephenson has scored in double figures in the last seven games and his spirited play has led to more Indiana victories. The even more telling stat is the fact that Lance averages 11 points and six rebounds per game at home while only scoring seven points and four rebounds on the road.

On the other side, Washington is getting into a nice groove as a team as well, having won four games in a row despite All-Star point guard John Wall being out. Wall’s replacement, Tomas Satoransky, has played exceptionally well in that stretch, capping off the week with a career-high 19 point performance against the Orlando Magic. With Satoransky at the helm, the Wizards are passing the basketball much more, and that type of ball movement has lead to easier shots for their ancillary players.

This game should be close, but the Pacers’ home-court advantage should be enough to put them over the top.

Don’t look now, but the Denver Nuggets are slowly rising up the Western Conference standings by taking care of business against some of the best teams in the NBA. Last week the Nuggets had critical victories over the Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks to a Gary Harris three-pointer at the buzzer, and a hard-fought victory over the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Denver will come into this game trying to avoid the trap of playing down to lesser competition.

The Hornets have struggled to find an identity all season, but their ability to finally stay healthy has helped them to win their last three games and keep their playoff hopes alive. Kemba Walker is playing as good as ever, and if it weren’t for the Hornets' record he honestly would have the best case for complaining about being snubbed for the All-Star team.

Walker is not only responsible for setting up all of his Hornets teammates, including Dwight Howard, who has to be spoon-fed the ball so that he can score, but also attack and score himself. Kemba leads the Hornets in scoring at 22.7 points per game on 46% shooting from the field and 36% from three-point range. Walker has worked hard to improve his deep shot, and in Sunday night’s win over the Suns he became the Hornets' franchise leader in three-point makes. The Hornets are slowly figuring out how to play better on offense, and that newfound scoring prowess will lead them to at least covering the spread vs. the Nuggets.